...
His opening move.
Naturally, it was Lynch's specialty: the Level 1 Weakness Curse.
But to his surprise, the Necromancer's reaction was incredibly fast.
Even in his frenzied state, he had maintained a sliver of vigilance toward his surroundings.
The moment Lynch's Weakness Curse flew out, the man sprang to his feet like a startled rabbit. His movements were so agile they didn't seem like those of a Necromancer who spent his days among corpses.
Fortunately, the Weakness Curse traveled at incredible speed, and with the element of surprise on his side, the ghastly white ball of light was not disrupted by the enemy's Spiritual Power. It sank smoothly into his body.
Visibly, the man's figure faltered, his movements becoming noticeably sluggish and weak.
'It hit!'
Lynch was ecstatic.
His tall, strong build, combined with the reflexes he'd honed from brawling with those guys from the Holy Light System, served him well.
The very instant he cast the curse, he tossed aside his cumbersome, sinister Magic Staff without a second thought. He then snatched the thick, hard bone club from the Fishman leader's skeleton and charged straight out from his hiding spot in the thorn bushes.
He moved like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey.
"RIIIP!"
Tough thorns tore at his black robe, carving stinging, bloody lines across his arms and face, but he paid them no mind. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on only one target: the cursed, staggering Necromancer.
There was no turning back now.
It was kill or be killed.
At the same time, under the command of Lynch's Spiritual Power, the entire hidden Skeleton Corps erupted into action.
From piles of rotten leaves and dense patches of grass, a horde of Fishman Skeletons burst forth, charging out as one under the leadership of Bone Jade.
Eight Humanoid Skeleton Guards and two elite Fishman Skeletons also charged out of the bushes under Lynch's command. Like a long-planned undead ambush, they instantly revealed themselves, surging with overwhelming killing intent as they charged the Necromancer.
This sudden turn of events was clearly far beyond the Necromancer's expectations.
Even with all his viciousness and cunning, he showed obvious signs of panic.
'This is supposed to be a deserted wilderness! How can there be an entire, organized unit of a Necromancer's army lying in ambush here?!'
His first reaction was that this was a trap. 'No wonder those little Holy Light brats were running for their lives in this direction.'
'I was careless!'
His second reaction: Flee!
He had to get out of here. Immediately.
Fighting back the overwhelming weakness in his body, he frantically used his Spiritual Power to command all his Skeletons to fall back and form a defensive line around him. Meanwhile, he gritted his teeth and staggered away, trying to flee in the opposite direction.
But would Lynch let him get his way?
They were only seven or eight steps apart. With the physical prowess to brawl with a Holy Knight apprentice, Lynch closed the distance in an instant when he burst forward with all his strength.
With a ferocious tackle, Lynch slammed the weakened Necromancer to the ground. Then, he raised the bone club and brought it crashing down on the man's hooded head.
"THUD!"
The dull sound of a heavy impact was accompanied by the distinct "CRACK" of breaking bone.
But the Necromancer beneath him only let out a muffled grunt. His head wobbled, but he was still struggling desperately, trying to push Lynch off.
'What the fuck...?'
Lynch was startled. 'Is this guy's head made of stone?!'
But an instant later, he discovered the truth.
Under the man's hood, which had been pushed back as he struggled, his head and other vital spots were covered in a thin layer of Skeleton Armor, intricately pieced together from tiny bone fragments.
'Damn, this guy is really terrified of dying!'
'Even when hiding behind a wall of skeletons, he still remembered to cast the Undead System's defensive magic, the Skeleton Armor Skill, on himself.'
Fortunately, Lynch's powerful blow had already shattered the Skeleton Armor on the man's head. The heavy impact had clearly left him dazed, and his struggles weakened considerably.
Lynch felt a bit more at ease. 'This is the universal weakness of Magic System classes,' he thought. 'They might be powerful, but their bodies are ultimately fragile.'
'If this had been a veteran Tier One Holy Knight, forget dazing him; I probably wouldn't have even been able to make him budge.'
These stray thoughts flashed through his mind in a split second.
Strike while he's weak, and go for the kill.
A savage glint flashed in Lynch's eyes again as he raised the thick bone club high.
But just as he was about to bring the club down, the unexpected happened.
An inconspicuous bone ring on the Necromancer's withered finger suddenly flashed with a ghastly white light. A Weakness Curse formed in an instant and sank into Lynch's body at point-blank range.
It was a Magic Ring capable of instantly casting a Weakness Curse.
'Not good!'
Lynch was horrified. He felt an intense wave of weakness wash over his entire body. His limbs instantly grew sore and weak, and he could barely keep his grip on the thick bone club.
What sent a chill down his spine was that the man's most loyal "reinforcements" had arrived.
Leading the charge were the two Netherworld Skeleton Soldiers, their auras far more formidable than even Bone Jade's.
They were fast, agile, and possessed rudimentary intelligence. Even without the Necromancer's command, they reacted instantly, instinctively coming to their master's rescue.
They pounced fiercely from the left and right, the sharp bone blades in their hands aimed straight for Lynch's back.
At that critical moment, Lynch's guards finally arrived.
The fastest was the short, stout Fishman leader skeleton.
It no longer had a weapon, but it still had its body.
Like a charging potato sack, it brutally slammed into one of the Netherworld Skeletons, knocking it off balance before latching on and tangling it up.
Lynch's other eight Humanoid Skeleton Guards also arrived, swarming forward to tie up the other Netherworld Skeleton—which was desperate to save its master—with their bodies and tattered weapons.
The Fishman Priest skeleton stayed in the rear, forming slender water arrows at the tip of its Magic Staff and firing them one after another at the entangled enemy. Although they weren't powerful, plinking harmlessly off the skeleton's bones, they at least served to harass it and slow it down.
Meanwhile, Bone Jade led its thirty-strong Fishman Skeleton unit to surround the enemy.
With their fragile bodies, they fearlessly blocked the tidal wave of dozens of enemy Humanoid Skeletons.
The battlefield instantly descended into utter chaos.
'This is my chance.' Lynch knew his skeleton army was far inferior to the enemy's in both quality and quantity; they wouldn't be able to hold out for long.
Fighting back the weakness that wracked his entire body, he gritted his teeth and brought the club down with all his might on the head of the Necromancer beneath him.
One blow, then another, and another.
"THUD!" "THUD!" "CRACK!"
'So what if I'm weak? We're both weak now!' Lynch roared furiously in his mind. 'But I'm young and strong! I've got more stamina than you!'
Besides, Lynch was surprisingly familiar with this style of fighting—trading blows while weakened, relying purely on brute force and willpower.
It was the same damn way he used to fight the Holy Knight apprentices.
Obviously, the Necromancer pinned beneath him was far inferior to Lynch, both in terms of physical conditioning and proficiency in the "skill" of brawling.
Although the remnants of Skeleton Armor on his head were still absorbing some of the damage, the spell's main purpose was to block ranged projectiles and prevent ambushes; it was never designed for a Necromancer to use in a melee brawl.
"CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!"
After several more heavy blows, the remaining Skeleton Armor on his head finally gave way and shattered completely. Next to take the direct impact was his fragile skull.
As it turned out, in the face of pure physical force, the skull of a Tier One Peak Necromancer wasn't much harder than that of a Knight apprentice.
"SPLAT!"
With Lynch's final, all-out blow, the Necromancer's body suddenly went rigid. His skull burst open like a ripe watermelon, splattering a mixture of red and white matter and bone fragments all over Lynch's face.
...